Our Tarheels During March Madness

Most people have already seen these shots but for those who missed our facebook posting. We are always sitting in front of the tube watching the craziness of March Madness. This year Aunty Gray and Grandmother Kat made sure that the girls could cheer in unison...rooting for our favorite team. Although, we did not come out on top it is always fun to wait for next year! One of the fun parts of taking shots like these is seeing the personalities of the girls unfold. Who are you a fan of...hmmmm. Brainwashing starts early!

Look at me, Look at me...at the same time please!

Such silliness!

Squealing girl...her popeye look.

Now off the the Sydnors for some big girl play. Sophia and Harper having some sticker time.

Sophia enjoying every bit of her cupcake.

Our good sitter playing so nicely on the Sydnors living room floor.

Dad's Birthday - March 22nd, 2011

The same day as Harper's first day of school was Hunt's 34th birthday so celebrated with low key cake and presents. It is amazing how birthdays are a blur and last minute affairs after children arrive. The best part is watching your kids get involved in the baking and making of the cakes and presents. Harper insisted on being Head Chef and Cake Decorator... cleaning assistance from Reiss and Hunt...just a little bit!

Harper does her fair share of tasting, thank goodness this was a "family only" cake.

Dad and his cake and goodies. Happy, Happy Birthday Hunt (and Daddy)!

The National Zoo - March 17th, 2011

Our first stop at the zoo...the lions. Grandmother Kat recommended the prairie dogs...man, they were cute!

I think there were 6 cubs who were getting baths, rough housing and just being unruly...makes me a little thankful for the craziness in my house these days.

Happy St. Paddy's Day!Bring on the zoo!

Big Daddy!

His healthy brood...

SEA OTTERS!

He is so cute! I want to play ball with him.

This has always been one of my favorite animals...

Can climb in?

Our crew!

GIANT PANDAS!

Reiss taking in the sights in her last Bjorn adventure.

Anyone ready for a nap? Right here, in the middle of the park...really?!

Remember..."When you are saving one can, you are saving toucans!" Does anyone else watch tons of PBS?

Happy girls at the zoo.

Harper's NEW friend.

School Days, school days...March 22nd, 2011

I know, it is so hard to believe but the time was upon us. Not long after we began to settle into our life with two kids, I began to feel immense guilt. There is something that happens when you feel like you work so hard to develop a smart, fun, happy, loving child and then you add a newborn to the equation and you feel like you have just dropped your first child off a cliff to fend for themselves. So many moms know it, but the first weeks and months are a challenge and there is a huge learning curve. We started realizing in this time period that Harper needed some outside of the house influence, and Reiss and I need some time too. Here enters Orange County Cooperative Preschool. This wonderful little school starts accepting kids at the age of 2.5 years old and has two classrooms of preschoolers each with a wonderful teacher. Parents volunteer in the classroom a few times a month so you are able to see the teacher and children in their environment. They have classes 3 times a week from 9am-12pm. After our spring break this year we decided that it was great timing and was a great trial period before her having to go to school next year so we jumped in. This was our beginning... Our big girl all ready to go. Yes, she picked out the Dora the Explorer backpack, which is funny since she had NEVER watched the show and she resembles Dora a little bit too!

Can you believe that she is this big already?

So excited!

Giving the backpack its due props.

Little sister tagging along on Harpers big adventure.

Such a big girl...

Her first cubie...

Getting comfortable with our helper of the day, our good friend Em, Mason and Mrs. Jeanette.

Already settling in with Hudson and Sierra.

At noon, I arrived to this scene...perfectly at play.

Ready to go with all my stuff.

Let's blow this joint!

You have to appreciate these moments, we love this little girl and are so proud of her today.

Our first piece of preschool artwork...so sweet!

Sisters - End of February

I have tried to take the lead of my fellow blogger friend Em and capture the girls monthly, so you can really see the changes as they happen for all those family and friends far away. The only problem is that I have not been taking my job as a blogger very seriously and am only now beginning to show interest in catching up. So here are pictures from February...wow.
Big cuddles, Reiss not fighting the love!

All smiles!

Adoring big sister.

Smerky, smerky!

For a while the girls really seemed to be on the path of being those sisters who didn't look alike and shared very few features. As you can see here, that is changing, each day they start to look more alike and meld into one another. Its a really sweet and crazy thing how you can wake up and say "wow, she has eyebrows today" or "did her nose change in her sleep?"